faderift | EVENT ↠ THE DRIFTING ROADS

WHO: Everyone
WHAT: A Crossroads Adventure
WHEN: Most of Cloudreach 9:46
WHERE: The Crossroads
NOTES: OOC post!

A team recently discovered a cluster of eluvians, one of which leads into the attic of an occupied home in Minrathous. This could be an extremely useful route if it can be made safely accessible, but that will require careful planning. In the meantime, Riftwatch needs to urgently explore the other eluvians in the cluster to ensure that none of them make the Minrathous route too dangerous to keep open (for instance, if another leads into the center of Val Royeaux or the royal palace in Cumberland, or anywhere else that a party of enemy combatants could quickly cause terrible trouble).

To that end, teams are assigned to explore and (as much as is possible in the Crossroads) map where the others lead and what the paths between them are like so that the danger/usefulness of each can be assessed. Because there are dozens and this needs to be done as quickly as possible, anyone with any time may be ordered to take on an exploration shift. Assignments will be given to small teams or pairs, but never to just one person alone. Some people may be assigned multiple shifts. (These assignments will be made IC, but OOC you're free to choose your own teams.)

The aim of this event is to focus on the Crossroads themselves, so the eluvians investigated will almost all lead to other eluvians and to islands of disconnected pieces of the Crossroads. It may be necessary to travel between and through several successive eluvians to different portions of the Crossroads to ensure there's no access to a vulnerable location.

The portions of the Crossroads teams will be exploring now will come with a variety of frustrating geographical hazards, any number of which your characters may encounter during their travels:

RECONCILIATION ROAD: One eluvian will be positioned in the distance on a narrow island of the Crossroads and reachable only by two paths that unfurl ahead of people as they walk and finally converge to reach the island. The paths will slowly angle toward one another if the people walking on each of them discuss a topic of disagreement, coming together to meet at the eluvian if the parties are reasonable and calm during the discussion and make some earnest effort to find common ground along the way. They won't have to wind up in perfect agreement to reach the end, but breaking into fighting or being stubborn or petty will result in the paths diverging instead of coming together. People who already agree about something won't be able to make it work—they'll have to find something to disagree about, even if it's just the best color of flower. A monument at the beginning will explain its purpose (using Veilfire writing that gives mental impressions, rather than requiring knowledge of ancient elven languages): the paths were designed to require people to calmly discuss their differences on their way to reach someone appointed to mediate disputes at the end, rather than allowing them to barge in shouting.
IMPULSE AVENUE: An area will be populated by spirits who will act out a form of people's repressed feelings/impulses on their behalf. That might mean a nonverbal wisp or a more distinct verbal spirit. So a wisp who is acting on behalf of Person A might shoot little icicles at Person B because Person A is annoyed with them, or a more substantial spirit might hit on Person B because Person A thinks they're cute, et cetera. The spirits won't volunteer to explain why they're doing this, but the verbal ones could identify Person A as the source of the desire if pressed on the subject, especially if Person A secretly wants it known.
INNER CHILD BOULEVARD: Teams may need to pass through a particularly twisty, shifting maze that's only passable with the guidance of spirits—specifically, spirits who, for some unknown reason connected to their original purpose when the Crossroads were a thoroughfare, present as ghostly forms of the people they're guiding as they were when they were children. They'll know that they're spirits and that their purpose is to guide people through the maze, not mistake themselves for "real" people, but they'll behave and speak in the manner of the child they're imitating while doing so. (Like all spirits, they rely on the information available to them from people, so if there's some significant difference between the way a person recalls themselves as a child vs. how they really were, the spirit will only be able to imitate what the person recalls.)
SUSPICION CIRCLE: A pack of fear spirits (specific breed: suspicion) has control of a dark, tunnel-y portion of the Crossroads. They're able to rearrange the paths to lead people in circles rather than allowing them to escape, all the while trying to stoke fear and drive wedges between people by whispering to them about any fears they may harbor (or that just seem reasonable) about their companions' motives, loyalty, etc. Resisting the fear will prevent the spirits from feeding and eventually make them unable to keep up with rearranging the paths, allowing people to escape. Otherwise, if people do give into fearing one another and thus feed them, they'll have to be fought or outsmarted some other way.

They may also encounter other minor hazards and irritations, such as:

SPIRITS OF VALOR: Bridges or paths may occasionally be occupied by these fierce spirits who will demand that any who wish to pass first best them in single combat. They can also sometimes be passed without a fight, if you manage to out-swagger them.
WILD GOOSE SPIRITS: Spirits that will lead anyone who follows them in pointless circles for as long as possible. They may appear offering assistance, claiming they know the way to the party's destination and can lead them to it, or claiming to have been sent by another group that needs their help urgently. On rare occasions the aid they seek will be real, just far too late--they may lead people to scenes of spirits falling to their deaths as paths crumble, crying out for help but unable to be saved.
MOOD WISPS: Characters may encounter clusters of small wisps that will follow them about and change color depending on the mood of the person they're hovering near. If that person's emotions are particularly extreme they may also hum a little, annoyingly, in a way that vaguely indicates the relevant feeling.
TRUTH PATHS: Paths that will fall away if you tell a lie. It doesn't require active truth-telling to cross, so you can be silent the whole time if you like, but if you lie about something while wandering the path will vanish ahead of you and will not reappear until you correct the lie. They aren't clearly marked.
PUZZLES EVERYWHERE: There are puzzles. They're everywhere, and they're frequently required to unlock an eluvian or make a pathway appear. Some of them might require people to play Ancient Elven Symbol Twister. Or Ancient Elven Symbol Hopscotch, if that's more your thing.

This project will be ongoing, in addition to characters' normal duties, until events TBA.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Val had nodded with great understanding--unfortunate, that refusal, but understandable--and was getting around to considering his own options, which line up as crossbow, running, standing one's ground--when Sonia Barra issues her command. With interest he turns to look at the spirit, to gauge its reaction.

It is an interesting, if not entirely encouraging, reaction. The spirit does not lower its great sword. But it does halt its approach, as if the ringing command of a lady's voice might be enough to control its purpose.

There is a pause, a silence. The only real sound is the soft rattle of gravel, disturbed by the spirit's approach and now tumbling over the lip of the bridge--and then the rumble of the spirit's voice:

"What proof?"

Oh. Hm. The spirit actually does stop where it stands, which gives her ego a nice little pat on the head, but part of Sonia hadn't actually expected that to work. She had been, honestly, half-prepared to turn and make a break for it with Val if things went sour. But then the spirit stops, and she has to say out loud the idea that possessed her to call it to a halt in the first place. She puts on her best smile, batting her eyelashes and praying that charm works on spirits of valor.

"Ah...I don't suppose I could challenge a spirit to a drinking contest, could I?"

Surprised and pleased by this suggestion, Val gives a happy gasp. He looks swiftly back to the spirit. "Monsieur, please! You must allow this. Now that I have heard this proposal, I must see it for myself. Have you anything to drink, madam? I believe I have a flask at least, in my satchel--I am always prepared--"

He swings the bag around and begins to rummage through it.

The spirit, meanwhile, stands imperiously above them. It does not radiate any particular feeling or emotion. It does not seem charmed by the suggestion. Then again, it does not seem particular bothered by the suggestion, either--or give any indication that it plans to refuse. It merely stands, waiting.

Aha! See! Val thinks it's a fine idea. Clearly this is the only required criterium at this moment. And the spirit doesn't seem to be reacting badly to that, and her confidence is suddenly bolstered. Perhaps they stand a chance after all. If all she needs to do to get past this doorman is drink, then she has already won.

"Oh, I do," Sonia says brightly, producing a flask from her own bag. She waves it at the spirit -- it's quite full. "Now I wish I had brought a bit more to drink, but..."

But if Val has some liquor on him, then all should be well. Besides, if the spirit can conjure up a very real-looking broadsword, couldn't he will a bottle of vodka into existence? Sonia turns her smile on the spirit, raising the flask over her head as though it were a banner.

"Here are the rules of my game," she pronounces to the spirit. "I will match you -- drink for drink, or whatever intoxicant you spirits delight yourselves with -- and if I am still standing at the end, you let me and my comrade pass unimpeded. Is that courage enough for you, spirit?"

"Unlimited drink is of course better for such a game." Having extracted his flask as well, Val holds it aloft with great pride for the spirit to behold. The liquor within sloshes brightly, a clear sound in the otherwise fairly quiet space that they find themselves in. "But we must all make do, I think, my friends. Unless Monsieur Spirit should have access to a store of his own?"

His? Its? Perhaps he should err on the side of its, and great neutrality. It does not really matter; the words have already been spoken. If the spirit is troubled by these words, it does not show it, but goes on staring down at them, imperious and unmoved. And it continues in this way.

Val drops his arm. The liquor in his flask again sloshes. "The moment is beginning to feel awkward," he says to Sonia. "Do we say something more to it? The challenge seemed quite clear to me."

"Enough."

The word is not roared, but spoken so firmly that its reverberations carry their own authority. Val makes a quiet ah!, pleased, and looks around expectantly.

To his disappointment, however, the spirit raises its sword once more. "To drink is not a test of courage. Where is the courage in this test?"

Sonia opens her mouth in hesitant agreement with Val that yes, the situation is getting awkward, when the spirit speaks and she snaps her gaze back toward it, blinking. Then, hearing the spirit's words, furrows her brow deeply.

"Why, if you lose, you suffer great indignity! Isn't that the same as combat? To stake one's honor on a physical contest? I fail to see where the difference lies here. Sword, drink, I risk my honor and dignity both on a challenge either way. If outdrinking you doesn't count, then why should winning in a fight?"

EVENT ↠ THE DRIFTING ROADS

no way this will be.... fine

will it? will it?

well........................................................

WELL,

well.

wwweellll